When you see the pictures, you may feel the same. We're not saying the project is good or bad. We're just saying the scale and severity of what's happening in Alberta will make your spine tingle.

Business Insider sent me to Alberta in early May, when there was still ice on the ground and a bite in the air. I took these shots, trying to stay warm, from about 1,000 feet up, out of the window of a small plane.

The following pictures show oil mining, where the sand is dug from the ground and the oil's separated through a lengthy and messy process. There are drilling sites in the oil sands, and those are highlighted in the photo essay at the end of this one.

To get a look at the oil sand mines, we rented this Cessna 172 which the pilot was allowed to bring down to 1,000 feet — from there, through the open window and with a long lens we were able to see what really goes on in one of the most controversial places on the planet

The Alberta oil sands are spread across more than 54,000 square miles but we're taking a look at just a small part of that — the red line is an approximate outline of the entire deposit — the green is where we'll be flying

First they clear the trees from the land

Then they scrape away the shallow layer of leafy, peaty topsoil called muskeg

Then the trucks and shovels come in to scoop up the oil sand — that shovel is electric, runs on 15,000 volts — and scoops up 90 tons in one load — it takes about 2.5 tons of sand to produce one barrel of oil

Oil companies are required to return the land to its original condition and this reclaimed section, populated with Wood Bison, is not far from the pond

It looks a whole lot different on this side

Once the rough oil is pulled from the sand it will get sent to an 'upgrader' like Suncor's here on the Athabasca River — this is one of the sites where the oil from the oil sands is converted into synthetic crude

Once the oil is "upgraded" it will go to a storage tank like this one currently under construction

This is Syncrude's Mildred Lake plant along Route 63

Route 63 is deadly, and a family of 7 was killed driving it the day I got there — this memorial is right across from Syncrude by the side of the road — after taking this photo Syncrude security was dispatched and told me to go